All You Need to Know About European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020

UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers, where we will see 55 best nations in Europe are closing in, and with that, we need to check out what do the qualifiers have in store for us, which teams will we be watching and what are all the changes.

euro 2020 logo
Image source: UEFA.com

The format of the European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020

EURO 2020 will have 12 countries hosting the matches, which means there will be no automatic qualifications. Because the 12 host nations were appointed in 2014, there is a possibility for the national teams from the host nations to fail to qualify for the finals.

That means that instead of automatic promotion for the host nations, all 55 UEFA nations will have to prove their worth and fight to get into the main competition. Out of 24 open spots, 20 teams will advance through the group stage, while the remaining 4 spots will go to the winners of the newly implemented playoff system, which is linked to the UEFA Nations League ranking, but more on that below.

European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020 Group Stage

The Group stage qualifiers will begin in March 2019 and last until November 2019, with matches being played on 10 different double matchdays; in March, June, September, October, and November. As for the whole format, it will remain more or less the same. The 55 UEFA teams have been divided into 10 groups, 5 of which consist of five teams while the remaining 5 consists of six teams. Out of 24 teams that will qualify for the main event, 20 will get to advance by finishing in the top 2 in their groups, while the remaining 4 will be decided in the playoffs.

European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020 Play-offs

After the group stage is finished and we get 20 teams that advanced into the finals, the qualifying play-offs will determine the remaining 4 that will join the already qualified 20. Playoffs qualifiers will take place in March 2020.

Unlike other years, the participant of the play-offs will not be decided based on results from the group stage. Instead, the 16 teams will be selected based on their performance in 2018/19 UEFA Nations league, with group winners all taking part in the playoffs. But because there will be 20 teams already through the qualifiers via the group stage, there is a chance one of the teams that have already qualified through the group stage is also the group winner. In this case, the next best-ranked team in the UEFA Nations League will take their spot.

There is also a possibility all but 3 (or less) teams in group A (or any other group) will already qualify into the final tournament. In that case, one of the teams from another group will be moved into group A to fill the missing spot. Once the 16 nations will be decided, they will be divided into 4 groups of 4 teams, each with their own play-offs path. Each group will feature one single leg semi-final and one single leg final match. Out of each path, there will be only one team that will come out on top and with that get their ticket into the EURO 2020 competition.

This will give all the remaining 16 teams a chance to play at Euro final tournament.

European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020 Schedule

Below are all the important dates of the qualifiers.

Stage

Matchday

Dates

 

 

 

 

 

Qualifying group stage

Matchday 1

21-23 March

Matchday 2

24-26 March

Matchday 3

7-8 June

Matchday 4

10-11 June

Matchday 5

5-7 September

Matchday 6

8-10 September

Matchday 7

10-12 October

Matchday 8

13-15 October

Matchday 9

14-16 November

Matchday 10

17-19 November

Play-offs

Semi-Finals

26-28 March

Finals

29-31 March

UEFA EURO 2020 Tournament

12th June – 12th July

UEFA EURO 2020 – Match Schedule

euro 2020 match schedule
Image source: reddit.com

European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2020 – GROUPS

In total there will be 10 groups. The first 5 groups will consist of 5 teams, while the remaining 5 groups will consist of 6 teams. The top two teams in each group will get promoted into the final tournament directly.

* Teams written in bold are assured at least a play-offs spot due to their position in UEFA Nations League rankings.

 

GROUP A

P Team
1 England
2 Czech Republic
3 Bulgaria
4 Montenegro
5 Kosovo

 

GROUP B

P Team
1 Portugal
2 Ukraine
3 Serbia
4 Lithuania
5 Luxemburg

 

GROUP C

P Team
1 Netherlands
2 Germany
3 Northern Ireland
4 Estonia
5 Belarus

 

GROUP D

P Team
1 Switzerland
2 Denmark
3 Republic of Ireland
4 Georgia
5 Gibraltar

 

 

 

GROUP E

P Team
1 Croatia
2 Wales
3 Slovakia
4 Hungary
5 Azerbaijan

 

 

GROUP F

P Team
1 Spain
2 Sweden
3 Norway
4 Romania
5 Fraore Islands
6 Malta

 

GROUP G

P Team
1 Poland
2 Austria
3 Israel
4 Slovenia
5 Macedonia
6 Latvia

 

GROUP H

P Team
1 France
2 Iceland
3 Turkey
4 Albania
5 Moldova
6 Andorra

 

GROUP I

P Team
1 Belgium
2 Russia
3 Scotland
4 Cyprus
5 Kazakhstan
6 San Marino

 

 

GROUP J

 
P Team
1 Italy
2 Bosna and Herzegovina
3 Finland
4 Greece
5 Armenia
6 Lichtenstein

 

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